Page 84 of Burning Beauty

"I'm okay," she assured him.

"I'm coming to get you and take out the fuckers that did this."

Maria shook her head. "The only fucker was Franco Delgado. The Carreros have been helping me, it's why I have a phone and am able to call you. Please don't hurt anyone, Nic."

"They fucking hurt you!" His rage boiled over in a way Maria had never seen. She was suddenly glad she was on the phone with him instead of in the same room.

"But I'm not hurt," she protested quickly. She'd tell him about the concussion later. It hadn't been the Carreros fault and she really didn't want that to be the thing that pushed him over the edge.

"I'm not talking about now," he said coldly. "Five years ago, they threatened you, beat you on the steps of the courthouse and drove you from your home. These acts are unforgivable."

"They were grieving!" Maria said sharply. Oh god, if she didn't calm Nic down, there very well could be a bloodbath. "As far as they were concerned, I killed their child. They weren't thinking rationally." She tried to speak in a low hiss, glancing over her shoulder to see if they were listening. They were both busy doing other things, either not paying attention to Maria, or attempting to give her privacy.

"I do not care what they were thinking then. I don't care about the dead son. I only care about my woman, and that she was hurt. There will be retribution for each and every harm you have suffered." His seething voice washed over her, giving her the chills at the same time as the words touched her heart. He couldn't deal with the idea of her in pain and the only way he knew to protect her was to kill the things that hurt her. It was sweet, in a very messed up mafia kind of way.

Maria sighed and leaned against the wall. "Nic, if you hurt these people, you will be hurting me, and you promised that you won't do that again. You promised not to drag me into your world and force me to watch the fallout."

"You won't be there to see what I do to them," he assured.

"But I will," she argued, thinking fast, "because I won't leave them until you promise never to hurt them. I'll chain myself to them if I have to. So you'll either have to break your promise and kill them in front of me, or you'll have to make me a new promise."

"Maria, that is ridiculous."

"Not as ridiculous as saying you'll kill everyone that ever hurt me. What about the kid that pulled my hair when I was six? Or that boy that shoved his hand up my skirt when I was twelve?"

"I want his name," Nic snapped. "I'll cut that fucking hand off."

Maria sighed, and rolled her eyes. He wasn't getting her point. "Nic, please promise me you won't hurt the Carreros. We were very close before Marc died, it will tear out my heart if you do anything to them."

She must've said the magic words, because after a moment of silence, he capitulated. "Very well, they will not be touched, you have my word."

Maria grinned her relief, turning to give Hector and Inez, who were pretending not to listen, a thumbs up. She turned her back on them and said, "Thank you, Nic. I really do love you."

"And I love you, bella. Now get your ass outside, we'll be there in five minutes to pick you up. I just landed at the Guadalajara airport."

Chapter Forty-Eight

After two weeks of pampering and being stuffed full of every delicious food imaginable, Maria was fully recovered and in fighting form once more. Nic hovered around her like she was the most precious and breakable thing on the planet, barking at anyone that he thought was disturbing her. Maria lapped up every minute of his attention, falling more deeply in love than she thought possible. Nic only allowed Maria out of his sight if she was with Cassandra or Ruiz and her bodyguard was close by.

It had taken several days after the kidnapping for Maria to convince Nic to let her call Lucy Miller. She'd listened intently to the other woman's description of her ordeal and felt sick to her stomach. Lucy had suffered so much more than Maria at the hands of their kidnappers, and it was Maria's fault. Lucy should never have been involved. Yet, as much as Maria tried to apologize, Lucy refused to accept it, insisting Maria had done nothing wrong and that everyone had been mostly worried about Maria's disappearance. They had ended the call promising to keep in touch.

Maria was currently sitting on Cassandra's bed, helping the other woman wrap Christmas presents while Justin stood in the doorway with his back to them, pretending he couldn't hear them. Maria held up a bright pink thong and matching high-heeled stilettos. "Who are these for?" she asked giggling, trying to imagine Yara in the outfit.

"No one!" Cassandra snatched the items from Maria's hands and stuffed them under a pillow.

"Huh, because those shoes were definitely my size," Maria teased.

"Tell me about your date." Cassandra tried to change the subject.

Maria grinned, totally willing to talk about her upcoming date. She was so excited she'd been spending the past few days picking out and discarding outfits. It seemed ridiculous that she was so nervous about something as simple as a date. She and Nic had gone through so much, but actually going on a date with the man was a dream come true. She would get to leave the mansion and go for a night on the town with the man that made her heart beat faster every time she thought of him.

"Nic is way overreacting," Maria admitted. "He's had about a dozen restaurants thoroughly checked out for all possible security risks and he's rejected them all. At this point we'll be eating on the beach in our parkas with a few dozen of his men surrounding us."

"Well that could be romantic," Cassandra pointed out.

Maria shook her head. "No, I'm a wine, steak and candlelight kind of girl. I’m not really into sand in uncomfortable places and competing with the sand bugs for food."

"There are no sand bugs!" Cassandra protested laughing.

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